KSATTA Women’s Cup takes centre stage today

Today’s staging for the Kingston and St Andrew Table Tennis Association’s (KSATTA) Women’s Cup could feature some fierce battles. Though ninetime national champion Yvonne Foster is not competing, a host of future prospects will match shots inside the Excelsior High School auditorium when play begins at 9 a.m. Heading the entry list is national under-13 and under-15 champion Solesha Young.

Young, who teamed with Jamaica’s top male player Simon Tomlinson in the national mixed doubles crown, will face familiar foes when the women’s open serves off at noon. That field also includes tall, powerful Portlander Brittany Murray, 2017 Caribbean Region PreCadet under-11 winner Liana Campbell, Kelsey Davidson, who took the Pre-Cadet silver in 2016, skillful Larissa McLaughlin, and Tsenaye Lewis, the national under-11 champion.

The Open will start with play in four preliminary-round groups with the winners advancing to the knockout semi-final stage.

This all-female tournament will also have competition in the under-nine and under-11 age categories.

Young will have a busy day as she is also down to contest the under-15, under-18 and the under-21 divisions. Murray, is also in the under-18 and -21 divisions. At last year’s Nationals, she was second in the under-21 singles and reached the semi-finals of both the women’s and the under-18 singles.